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More calls to scrap Stamp Duty

“SDLT isn’t a Stamp, it’s not a duty and its not based on land! It’s just a tax,” says Chairman of The Society of Licensed Conveyancers.

The Negotiator

The TaxPayers' Alliance imageThe Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has endorsed the Taxpayers Alliance call for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) to be scrapped. The SLC said that there are additional benefits to those propounded by the Alliance which give even greater reason for the Government to give serious consideration to the proposal.

Simon Law imageSimon Law (left), Chairman of SLC said, “Stamp Duty Land Tax is perhaps the most inaccurately named tax in existence. There is no stamp involved, it is not a duty, and it is on assessed property values rather than land. In fact the only word that is in any way accurate is ‘tax’. In reality SDLT is a direct property transaction tax.”

SLC believes that SDLT has become unwieldy and ridiculously complicated due to rushed legislation which appears to be having the opposite effect for which it was intended. Conveyancing lawyers are now expected to help their clients navigate around the very poorly drafted regulations that govern the tax and this causes delays and at times causes transaction failure.

Law added ‘it is ironic that the Government is engaged in a review to improve the home buying process when it has introduced legislation that actually makes the process more complicated and tortuous. It is an insult on top of this that HMRC looks to Conveyancing lawyers to act as tax collectors!’

The Society believes that scrapping SDLT would not only create a more buoyant and vibrant property market, with a marked hike in investment and building of new homes, but also a much more straight forward and quicker home being and selling process.

August 8, 2016

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